In scheduled surgical procedures, particularly those involving general anesthesia, a patient is instructed to refrain from eating or drinking for a prescribed period. This insures that, in the event of nausea and vomiting, the danger of stomach contents reaching the lungs and concomitant pneumonia is minimized. Also, during such operations, it is common practice to introduce an esophageal stethoscope which will allow the anesthetist or anesthesiologist to monitor continuously patient's heart and breath sounds.
In addition, a gastric tube is frequently used, again through a nasal or oral route, to decompress or evacuate the stomach to prevent post-operative nausea or vomiting. This is especially important for emergency operations where there has been no pre-operative fasting.
Where tubes are installed through the nasal or oral routes, there is always a risk of perforation of the nasopharynx or esophagus and thus the danger of morbidity or even death. It is the object of the present invention to provide an apparatus which will combine the monitoring into a single unit which will have the following advantages:
(1) Decrease the risk of perforation during installation, PA1 (2) Decrease the risk of aspiration pneumonia (a potentially lethal combination), PA1 (3) Increase patient comfort by decreasing post-operative nausea and vomiting, PA1 (4) Decrease the time factor in installations and thus the cost factor as a result of the single insertion with increased simultaneous monitoring, PA1 (5) Promote the use of gastric suctioning as a routine practice during general anesthesia. PA1 (6) Requires no special training for a skilled anesthetist/anesthesiologist.
Various other objects and features will be apparent in the following description and claims in which details of the invention are set forth to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention, all in connection with the best mode presently contemplated for the invention.